Open AccessIntegration Processes within the Eurasian Economic Union: Kazakhstan’s Narratives
Author(s) -
Irina Chernykh,
Rustam Burnashev
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
kutafin law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2713-0533
pISSN - 2713-0525
DOI - 10.17803/2313-5395.2021.2.16.289-313
Subject(s) - economic union , narrative , political science , customs union , economic integration , politics , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , independence (probability theory) , economic system , law , economics , physics , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Integration processes in the Eurasian space are ambiguously assess both by officials and an expert community of the member countries. Thus, there is still a discussion in Kazakhstan and various narratives are being formed concerning the expediency of the country’s presence in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the advantages and challenges associated with this participation. The article deals with the main narratives that are presenting in Kazakhstan and describing the integration processes within the EAEU — official and expert (both critical about the EAEU and supporting Eurasian integration). The analysis conducted in the article is based on the understanding of the narrative as a “statement-result”, defined by its structure (coherence between key concepts). The article shows that all narratives about the EAEU, present in the Kazakhstani discourse, have a similar structure, formed by the concepts of “independence”, “integration”, “politics” and “economics”. The differences between the narratives are determined by the emphasis on either the “independencepolitics” or “integration-economics” constellations (linkages), and the proposed format of regionalization of Kazakhstan within Central Asia or Eurasia.